Chapter 46: Danger at Sea 1

“What are you going to do now that everyone wants to join your group?”

Hong Yuri whispered to Woohyuk.

There are even those that had secretly removed their Unity ring while others weren’t watching.

“I won’t accept any of them.”

Even if he went to the Eeth continent leading an army of 10,000, it would be meaningless if they ever encountered a dangerous situation.

There would also be the disadvantage that the starting location changed depending on how large your group was.

“You can come out now.”

Upon hearing Woohyuk speak, two gorgeous women stepped out of his shadow.

Aris and Irene.

They became Woohyuk’s subordinate, as such they would always watch his six. He decided to accept them in his group and they’ve been following him ever since.

“Uhm, who are they?”

“They are with me.”

The elegant silver haired beauty and the fiery redhead quickly caught her attention. For some reason the number of competitors kept rising.

As Hong Yuri couldn’t control her jealousy , a white text appeared before everyone.

[Leader’s vote to decide the fate of the Prisoners of War shall now begin.]

[One’s voting power can differ depending on your Crown tier.]

[The options are: 1. Sell into slavery 2. Death Penalty 3. Abstain]

When sold into slavery, the prisoners of war would be sold to the Demon world and would spend their remaining days in what felt like Hell.

It was the easy option that would trade their lives for coins that could be used on the Eeth continent.

The death penalty also had its own benefits. Instead of coins you could receive the items that the prisoners had on them.

“I’ll pick number 1.”

Woohyuk said, as he used his finger to click and cast his vote.

All the other leaders that had been holding out to see his decision, quickly followed suit and pressed the number one as well.

[Announcing the result of the vote..]

[#1 has been selected, Sell into Slavery.]

[Coins are distributed to each group according to their contribution.]

A team’s contribution considered a number of different factors. From killing enemy players, to capturing prisoners or securing Guard Towers.

Based on these criteria, it was obvious that Woohyuk’s contribution was far higher than all the rest.

“Boss, Are we going inside the portal to fight other Sector teams?”

Lee Jaesung led the party to meet up with him and asked, to which Woohhyuk nodded back.

“It would be best for me to obtain the Gold Crown now.”

At the end of the Grace Period, the crowns above their heads would disappear and the tier would instead be reflected by the Unity ring.

A silver ring would represent a silver crown, and likewise a gold ring would be a gold crown.

What changed from before was that once the Grace Period was over, the maximum limit that a leader could recruit would drop.

Those that didn’t have a Unity ring could no longer be recruited. This was to incentivize players to join a group before the period was up.

‘There no reason for me to repeat the same mistakes as last time though.’

In the early stages, leaders focused solely on building up large forces. This led to the formation of coalitions and when such big groups fought against one another, it would create chaos across the continent for quite some time.

Later local factions as well as the Demons joined in, further complicating things.

It all resulted in a big mess

In order to avoid being caught up in such troubles, he would have to rely on his personal strength and subordinates.

There was also a decent reward granted to the first person to achieve a Gold Crown.

“Should I gather some more members?”

“No, with just these three I will be fine.”

By three he meant Leifina, Aris and Irene.

Woohyuk examined the remaining players in Lee Jaesung’s party one by one, before speaking once more.

“You guys should take a break and use this time to find some good seeds.”

Players that had given up on expanding their groups could be found drinking at the tavern, having a good time.

A festive atmosphere descended upon the Fortress.

There was no longer any reason to fear any attacks from others, so they could set their mind at ease.

“Are you sure it’ll be enough?”

“It’s fine.”

Woohyuk then led the three women to the Dimensional Portal

Hong Yuri grumbled to herself as she watched them go.

“They are sticking to him like chewy rice cakes. Why can’t it be me?”

* * *

Night had fallen, and Woohyuk headed towards the Tavern.

He had managed to achieve the tier 10 Gold Crown and acquired some talented followers.

Any that didn’t meet his standards he’d force to take off their rings and be teleported out of the battlefield, or else he’d kill them on the spot.

“Asura, can we do our own thing now?”

“Anything is fine so long as you don’t commit any crimes.”

“Hee hee Thanks.”

Aris smiled like a mischievous kitten as she disappeared into the night.

She seemed to have quite an interest in the many facilities found in the Fortress.

“Lord, are you sure it’s fine to leave her unsupervised?”

“She can’t do any of her usual shenanigans because she is my vassal.”

She had given herself to Asura, so she couldn't resist Woohyuk’s order to behave herself.

Even if he were to try and abandon her, she’d just beg to stay by his side and stubbornly follow along anyways.

Woohyuk swung the Tavern door open and walked inside.

Even if the hour was quite late, it was still crowded inside.

“Boss, over here.”

Lee Jaesung and his crew had managed to secure a table ahead of time.

“Sorry for making you guys wait.”

“We are always willing to wait for you.”

historical

Lee Jaesung and the rest of them were quite exhausted, since they had been through some hard times. Therefore, Woohyuk took out his Akunaton’s Golden Chalice and poured some wine in the empty beer mugs.

“This..”

“It’s alcohol fit for a king, though I’m not sure if you’d like it.”

Because it was one of the finest wines, it was far better quality than anything that was served in the Tavern.

Lee Jaesung and Sanghoon took a few gulps from their mugs and smacked their lips contently.

“Kiyaa! this is the best.”

“It tastes awesome.”

Minors like Yoo Kayoung, Song Anna and her Undine, only took a single sip to taste it.

Woohyuk also recommended Leifina and Irene who were sitting beside him to try some.

“I’m weak with alcohol..”

“Don’t worry, if you stumble I’ll make sure to catch you.”

“Do I have to drink some as well?”

“It will be helpful so that everyone gets to know each other.”

Seeing the two women drink some wine, Lee Jaesung and Jung Sanghoon asked curiously.

“Boss what is the name of the young silver-haired lady?”

“She is as beautiful as Leifina.”

Irene’s appearance was simply too perfect. She stood out even if all she did was stand still and not speak.

It was completely normal for men to fall for her.

Woohyuk looked toward her as she sat there gracefully, like a proper young lady.

“Irene, do you fancy either of them?”

“...”

Her golden eyes glanced over the two aspiring suitors, but she soon shook her head.

“No.”

“...”

The two of them couldn't help but lower their heads in defeat.

“Anyway, I’ve done what you’ve asked and all is set.”

“You just need to be there for the in person test tomorrow.”

When Woohyuk announced that he would be recruiting players for his group, volunteers rushed over like a swarm of bees.

There were just five skilled players that had passed the screening.

The standards Woohyuk had set were higher than they’d expected, causing the majority to be eliminated half way through the test.

“Good work, let’s just have fun for tonight though.”

Only four of their original ten had survived. It was nice to have this kind of relaxed meeting, especially because he hadn’t seen them since his time in the Twilight Tower.

As they chatted among themselves, Woohyuk examined the Undine that was seated next to Song Anna.

The ability to have a spirit as a companion and give them a body to walk on this plane. It was on a completely different level that simply contracting with a spirit to borrow some of their power.

With their own bodies, the spirit could grow like any other players and learn new skills.

What could the other six abilities be?

While Woohyuk was lost in his thoughts, the Undine spoke to him.

“Well..”

She seemed hesitant to speak.

“What is it?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

Woohyuk then heard the Undine’s voice in his mind.

[Do you have a Demon inside of you?]

Since the Undine was a spirit, she was sensitive to mana and had detected the Demonic Energy inside of him.

“Yes”

[Why did you join hands with one?]

Elemental Spirits were a pure form of magic, and natural enemies of Demons.

It seemed that he would have to explain himself.

“Let’s go talk somewhere else.”

Woohyuk took the Undine by the hand and left the Tavern. The rest of the party watched them leave with a look of confusion.

“What happened?”

“Is it because she’s new?”

An awkward silence hung in the air ever since the two of them had left.

Jung Sanghoon forced a cough and looked between Leifina and Irene.

“Why don’t you two drink some more, look we even have snacks...”

Naturally men were animals that didn’t know when to give up.”

Before the two women had even responded, Lee Jaesung was filling up their mugs.

“Let’s have some fun tonight, since we don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow.”

The banquet went on, but the two bachelors weren’t able to score that night.

* * *

After a lengthy explanation, Woohyuk finally managed to convince the Undine. In fact she had only been worried about Song Anna’s safety.

Although Woohyuk seemed to have some Demon Energy within him, he didn’t appear to be hostile.

Now that the confusion had been settled, Woohyuk focused on picking out some new talent.

The recruitment of new members went on throughout the day, and a total of ten were selected. Compared to the maximum of ten thousand that he could now lead, it was indeed a small number. However based on his past experiences, it would suffice.

‘I don’t need to gather too many in the early stages anyways.’

If your group was too big, they wouldn’t all be sent to the same starting location.

The higher the number, the more time it would take to gather everyone together.

He would much rather head to the Eeth Continent, than wait for his team to assemble because his group was too big.

Soon after the Grace Period had come to an end, and Woohyuk was in a hurry to get going.

“Hey.. is this goodbye again?”

“We have little choice since this is how the system operates.”

Hong Yuri looked at Woohyuk’s group enviously.

She likewise had obtained a tier 10 Gold Crown and led a large group of people.

Considering her position and responsibility, it wasn’t possible for her to join Woohyuk’s group.

“Can I truly just go along with what you’ve told me?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

Woohyuk told her what her best path forward was. Unless she encountered an unexpected variable, she should be able to quickly take control of a small area.

“Okay.. then until next time.”

Hong Yuri waved her hand, full of regret.

The other members of the Red Faction shared the same sentiment.

They watched as Woohyuk walked away, looking forward to meeting him again in the future.

‘It’s quite different from last time.’

Back then Isaac had been that star that everyone wanted to join. Woohyuk’s group however had been larger than this time, but it had been filled with weak players.

He now had a start that simply couldn’t be compared to back then, so things would be different.

While thinking of his future plans, Woohyuk stepped through the Dimensional portal.

* * *

“Ugh..”

“This place..”

Woohyuk’s party opened their eyes, disoriented.

They were on an uninhabited island filled with lush plants. Looking around, there was nothing but an expanse of blue sea and sky.

‘As expected.’

There were several starting locations, but the most common ones were uninhabited islands.

The waters were teeming with rabid cannibal sharks, so swimming out of here wasn’t an option.

If it were in the past, their party would have to cut down some logs and do their best to make a seaworthy vessel.

“Hop on.”

Woohyuk however already had his own sailboat.

After climbing up on the deck, Woohyuk ordered Drake to set sail.

“Head to Landium in the Arpen region.”

Landium was a rather large port city, so sailing in with a ship that flew a pirate flag would be suicide.

Fortunately they could just capture another vessel on the way.

“You heard the Captain!.”

As Drake went to hold the wheel, the Abyssal Ship began sailing ahead.

The weather was ideal, no clouds and a nice breeze at their backs.

As the rest of the party stayed on deck and stared at the glistening sea, Woohyuk pulled out the Dragon egg from his Sage’s Pouch.

‘I should take the chance to raise it during this voyage. ’

He wondered what type of dragon it would be.

After waiting for some time, cracks began to form across the shell’s surface and a naked girl with blonde hair jumped out.

Anyone who saw her would know it was a Gold Dragon.

‘Did it give me it's daughter?’

He hadn’t expected that they would hatch in human form however, causing him to be a bit embarrassed.

“Fa...ther?”

A tiny pygmy like girl, shivering from her wet body.

After wrapping her up in a cloth, Woohyuk called Aris over.

“Why was it born in this form?”

“A Dragon recognizes their guardian while they are still in their eggs. Maybe that’s why it naturally assumed a human form.”

A convincing explanation.

Now however he would have to name here. He thought about it for a while and then decided.

“I’ll call you Lia”

“That’s a pretty name. Take good care of her, she seems to like you.”

Lia stared at Woohyuk with a twinkle in her eyes.

Woohyuk played with her for a little while before handing her over to Leifina.

“Here, think of her as your daughter. Take good care of her.”

“Mo...ther?”

Hearing Lia mumble, Leifina couldn't help but be surprised.

She had no idea how to deal with children.